A protest rally against corporate greed and capital's influence on politics began in Zagreb's central square shortly after 6 pm on Saturday and has been announced in several other Croatian cities, whereby Croatia is joining the October 15 "United for #Global Change" global civil movement.
According to reporters' estimates, about 3,000 people rallied in Zagreb carrying banners which said "In defence of public property", "Production without exploitation, country without border, society without state" and "When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty".
Before the rally, the demonstrators were joined by union representatives with their insignia who, before that, had gathered in front of the Croatian Employers Association.
The protest's organiser said at the rally "everyone is worried and angry because of the political, economic and social situation around us" and that "corruption among politicians, business people and bankers leaves us helpless."
According to the "15ocroatia.org" website, protests against neoliberal capitalism are taking place in 951 cities in 82 countries on every continent today so that citizens can express their bitterness over the fact that their rights are endangered by the alliance of politicians and the economic elite, which has caused the global crisis.
Apart from Zagreb, Croats are also scheduled to protest in Split, Rijeka and Pula to highlight the desire for change and let politicians and financial elites know that citizens are the ones deciding about their fate.
The coordinators of the Croatian protest have called on citizens to occupy the streets and ask for "real democracy now," saying on the facebook page "15.O (worldrevolution) in Croatia" that Croatian politicians, under pressure from financial power, work only for the benefit of a small group and that ruling classes promote wars for profit, for example in Afghanistan, and deprive citizens of the right to a just society by reducing them to poverty.
"The 15.O movement is here so citizens can express their dissatisfaction with neoliberal capitalism, which has pushed the world into crisis, because of which people around the world are starving so that a greedy elite could prosper," the facebook page says.
The organiser of the Zagreb protest, scheduled to last one hour, announced on facebook the "Food Not Bombs" organisation would deliver food to the most persistent demonstrators, as it has done in New York.
The Croatian protest was supported by union federations, the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and a number of NGOs.
